Last week, seven states in the European Union announced the feasibility of a program to develop drones within the EU. The plan included seven states and will be implemented by 2020.
This represents a huge shift for the EU and is a blow to the arms industry of the U.S. and Israel, who sell the most drones to the international markets. In the U.S., the drone market represents $13 billion in government expenditures. Internationally, the drone market is projected to grow to $11.6 billion.
These numbers frighten me, simply because of the scale. We already devote so much energy to the creation of destructive technologies and give just lax interest to constructive ones.
Unfortunately, the world seems to be following in our footsteps. In Pakistan alone, the U.S. has killed an estimated 3,657 people, with a total of 379 strikes. These numbers alone are just a statistic, but the number of people who have grown to hate the U.S. cannot be quantified.
In fact, the U.S. began killing with drones in excess after President Obama was inaugurated. There is a sad irony that a standard bearer of great liberal caliber would violate his own commitments to human rights.
Most recently, a drone strike carried out by our government killed five people in Pakistan. Outrageously, the U.S. hit a seminary and killed militants while 16 students studied in the next room.
Is this really the legacy that the EU wants to take on? Germany, specifically, spoke out on Nov. 15 to condemn the usage of drones by the U.S. to kill militants. Apparently, 59 percent of Germans support the usage of drones only for reconnaissance.
However, the group of seven nations plans to pool the resources of the EU to remain competitive technologically with the U.S. and Israel, the two top drone manufacturers and exporters.
Despite the hullabaloo about the investigation of the feasibility of the EU drone manufacturing program, I have three concerns.
First, it is simply too easy to kill people with drones, and their usage cannot be limited. Germany wants to limit these drone practices to surveillance, but it is unclear as to what Germany would be surveilling or under what circumstances.
As we have seen with the U.S., drone usage can go out of control with little or no oversight or regulation.
Second, it is fishy to me that the EU would go years buying American drones, primarily from Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and then suddenly stop.
It seems as though the EU is creating itself a little homegrown jobs program. Companies from Germany, Italy and France have all signed on to contribute to the effort.
It’s a cozy agreement to not question the morality of drones and just let the good times roll — for drone manufacturers, that is.
So, where do we go from here? As citizens of a rapidly modernizing world, we must be aware of and angry about the wheelings and dealings between two legs of the so-called “iron triangle,” between powerful industry and our representative government.
Today, more than ever, we must heed President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s words: “(Our nation) must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience. … We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage.”
Reach the columnist at pnorthfe@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @peternorthfelt.
